Andrew Ranger Celebrates Third Toronto Victory

TORONTO, Ont -- Ever since Andrew Ranger broke his 22-race winless drought last time out at Autodrome Chaudiere, he has been nothing short of dominant.

He continued his strong start to the season by winning the Pinty's Grand Prix of Toronto Saturday at Exhibition Place.

Ranger's No.27 Mopar/Pennzoil Dodge raced nose to tail with Alex Tagliani all race long before making a bold move to take the lead during NASCAR Overtime. Ranger was able to pass Tagliani in Turn 1 on the restart, and score his third win on the 1.755-mile street course and second consecutive victory this season.

The 31-year-old driver from Roxton Pond, Quebec, also padded the margin in his all-time series wins total in the NASCAR Pinty's Series. His win on the streets of Toronto extends his win total to 24 career wins.

Polesitter Alex Tagliani lead from the drop of the green flag until being passed on Lap 36, the first lap of NASCAR Overtime. Tagliani battled hard with JF Dumoulin and wound up finishing second despite suffering heavy body damage, notching his second podium finish of 2018.

JF Dumoulin finished third, scoring his second career podium finish and first since the Clarington 200 at Canaidian Tire Motorsport Park in 2015.

Gary Klutt and LP Dumoulin completed the top five, with Marc-Antoine Camirand and Josten's Rookie of the Year candidate James Vance finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.

D.J Kennington, Donald Theetge and Peter Shepherd III rounded out the top 10.

Last year's winner Kevin Lacroix's bad weekend continued after he made contact with barrier in Turn 5 on Lap 31. That brought out the caution that pushed the race to 37 laps and relegated Lacroix to a 16th-place finish.

With this win Ranger sits tied with LP Dumoulin with 167 points, with Ranger holding the edge in wins (2-1). Camirand is nine points back in third, followed by Powell and Kennington.

The Pinty's Grand Prix of Toronto will air Saturday, July 21 on TSN at 2:30 p.m. ET and Tuesday, July 17 on RDS2 at 10:30 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Pinty's Series will move on to Saskatoon for the first stop on the annual west coast swing for the Velocity Prairie Thunder Twin 125s sponsored by Bayer CropScience at Wyant Group Raceway on Wednesday, July 25.